From a Little Girl to a Young Woman

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Personally, I think this was my best dinner yet! Let's see what the rest of the family thinks.

Dad, what were your thoughts on dinner tonight?

"I give it an 8 out of 10. There should have been more chicken and less pot pie. The crust was decent, even with the faulty shortening."

What did you think of the cake?

"I give the cake a 10. I can't think of any way to improve it."

Mom, what are your thoughts about dinner?

"I give it an 8 out of 10. The crust wasn't your fault, and I didn't care for the thyme seasoning in the pot pie."

What about the cake?

"The cake was delicious!"

Savannah, what are your thoughts on dinner?

"It was very flavorful. Less crust would have been better, it kind of overpowered it. I give it a 9.5 because of the crust."

What about the cake?

"The cake was good, but not very flavorful. I give it a 7."

Calvin, what is your critique tonight?

"The pot pie was ok. It was a little dry and flavorless. I give it an 8."

And dessert?

"Dessert was good. I liked the chunks of pineapple."

Sarina, how did you like dinner tonight?

"Dinner tasted like stuffing and it was a lot of bread, so I give it a 4.5."

How about dessert?

"Dessert was very good. I would have liked it better if it was cold and if it had more sauce. I give it a 6."

Sadie, what are your thoughts this evening?

" So the pot pie was ok. It was good, but not great. The crust was not good, but the vegetables were ok. I give it a 4."

And the dessert?

"The dessert was great! I loved it so much! I did not taste the sauce very much but other than that it was good."

Sophia, what would you like to say about dinner this evening?

"It was good but the vegetables would have been better canned instead of frozen. I give it a 10."

Did you like dessert?

"Dessert was REALLY good! The sauce was good too. I give it a 10."

So the overall rating for dinner is a 7.4; and the overall rating for dessert is an 8.24.

I really liked this dinner. I was pretty happy with the way it turned out as well. It was easy to make and quick to prepare. I did not use a recipe for the cake. Sometimes you have to let your creative juices run away with your mind. Just take a deep breath and enjoy the ride!!

I used a white cake box mix. Instead of just using the egg whites I used the whole egg. It doesn't do anything except make the cake look a little more yellow, which is completely fine in this case. I added pineapple tidbits and banana chunks. I was a little afraid to make it in a bunt pan because of all the indentations. If the pan is not greased and flowered properly the cake batter will stick and tear when you try to remove it. Luckily everything turned out very well! For the glaze, I just used the pineapple juice from the can of tidbits and added sugar. Then I reduced it down in a pan on the stove. I then used a spoon to drizzle it over the cake. It smelled absolutely divine!!!

Apparently, the children thought they needed to add whipped cream to the top, but it honestly didn't need it. ;)

Here is the link for the original recipie. I made a few tweaks when I made it for my family. For instance, the recipie only calls for 2 chicken breasts. I used 4. Also, I used all of the mixed veggies and both cans of soup. I added a little milk because it looked a little dry.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Now, before I say anything else I'd like to say that i'm not the sharpest tool in the shed and when it comes to common sense, mine sometimes flys out the window. :) Needless to say, I make life interesting. Don't worry I haven't killed anyone yet.

Tonight I made spaghetti, meat sauce, and garlic knots. The spaghetti was cooked well, and the sauce was fine. The garlic knots on the other hand were a complete disaster. :( The water was too hot and it killed the yeast. Yes, I did read the recipe. The water was supposed to be 80 degrees F. So I decided to heat it in the microwave. MISTAKE #1! I should have just let the hot water run a few sec. and I would have been good. But nope, not me. :) I was trying to hury. MISTAKE #2! I didn't realize what I had done until everything else was ready and I went to check the dough to make sure it had rizen and could be turned into garlic knots. What I found was a lump of sad looking dough. :( Not in the least bit rizen, not at all. :( I told my mother that the dough didn't look right and the first thing she said was, "Your water was too hot." Just like that! Man I've got a ways to go! I decided to make them anyway, too late to start over anyway. They baked and i brushed them with butter. (I added garlic powder to the dough instead of mixing the butter and garlic together at the end. Mom said this was ok.) Mom put them in a basket and we finally sat down to eat.

I used about 2 handfulls of spaghetti and I broke the noodles in half before cooking them in a pot of boiling water for about 7 min. ﻿If the noodles are broken in half they are easier to eat and make less of a mess when covered in sauce. :)

The sauce was too simple. This was from a plastic container of Chunky Ragu~Garden Combination. I chunked up some of the leftover meatloaf from last night and threw it in a pot with the sauce and heated it up. :) I would like to learn to make homade sauce in the future, but that's not something I want to try on my own at the moment.

GARLIC KNOTS!!

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Flour your work surface, take dough out of mixing bowl after it has rizen and cut it in small pieces like this.

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Then take each piece and roll it into a long, somewhat skinny, log shape.

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"Knot" the dough logs and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Recipe for Garlic Knots. (French Variation Bread)

*For one pound of dough*

3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. Hot Water (80degrees F.)

1 Tbsp. Sugar

1 tsp. Salt

2 and 1/4 cups Bread Flour

1 and 1/4 tsp. Active Dry Yeast

Set oven to 350 degrees F.

Attach bread hook to your Kitchen Aid mixer. Put water and yeast into mixer. Add sugar and salt. Turn mixer on. don't go over setting number 2. Slowly add flour untill it is all mixed in and starts to form a ball of dough. Once all the mixture is off the sides of the bowl let the dough rise for about 30-45 min.

Once dough has risen, flour your work surface. Take dough out and roll around on the flour covered surface until the tackyness goes away. Cut dough in strips and then cut the strips in half. Take the pieces and roll then into long log shapes. Knot the dough and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 min. Or untill golden brown. Take out of the oven and brush garlic butter on the top of each roll. Serve imediately. Enjoy!!

Monday, February 20, 2012

I think this is my favorite part about dinner. After everyone is finished I pass out paper and pens and have everyone critique me. It's a little nerve racking I'll admit, but its feedback, often the most honest and straightforward kind. :) ﻿

MOM: "Dessert would have made it a 10 if there was dessert! I know you are going to be a GREAT wife!" Rate: 9

SAVANNAH: "Um... Potatoes good, but gluey. Meatloaf, dry but good flavor. The salad was good also. Rate: 6

CALVIN: "The potatoes were good. I only got one piece of cheese in my salad. (totally his fault by the way) The meatloaf was ok, it could have used some gravy." Rate: 7.5

SARINA: "Potatoes-10. Meatloaf-6.5. The salad-5" Rate: 7.2

SADIE: "The Potatoes were ok and the meatloaf was good and the salad was good. But if you had dessert it would have been a 9.5." Rate: 8.5

SOPHIA: " The potatoes were really good. The meatloaf was really good. The salad was good." Rate: 10

Their overall combined rating is a 7.24

Personally I believe this meal went over ok. Sure i should have added a little more water to the meatloaf, (it was a little dry) but it wasn't completely hard and inedible! :) The potatoes needed a little more milk, and the salad was delish! This meal wasn't very hard to make and was pretty quick to prepare.